Chapter 2 Red Slips And Red Flags

POV: Elara

"You do realize you're one silk sexy dress away from becoming his next obsession, right?"

Elara blinked. "June!"

"What?" June held up a deep red slip dress with a sinful smirk. "You said 'professional,' not 'nun.'"

"I'm going there to work. Not to seduce a billionaire."

"Uh-huh. You're going to counsel the most reclusive, most ruthlessly intelligent man in the country. Alone. In a mansion. With no cameras. Just you and Mr. Mystery."

Elara tried not to blush. "You make it sound scandalous."

June flopped onto the bed, legs crossed, phone glowing in her hand. "Do you even read the gossip forums? Reddit threads? There's literally a subforum called Mercer Madness."

Elara sighed. "What do they even say?"

June raised a finger. "Exhibit A: Someone said he once made a staff member cry just by looking at them."

"Sounds exaggerated."

"Exhibit B: An intern claims he only sleeps two hours a night and has a glass wall to watch staff like some villain in a Bond movie."

Elara laughed. "That's insane."

"And Exhibit C-my favorite," June grinned. "His ex-fiancée ran off to Canada and started a goat farm."

"Okay, that one's definitely fake."

June smirked. "If you disappear into a barnyard, I'm calling Marcus."